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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Indycar won't miss her at all... She's been gone a year already and it had no affect. Indycar fans gave up caring and tired of her and the sideshow. Bandwagon fans of Princess Sparkle Pony had already moved on. It was probably a smart move to go to Nascar when she did. Now, IF she'd come back to the 500 then she might bring some new eyeballs over from Nascar.... But I'd prefer she stay away anyway.

Put Kyle Larson in an Indycar instead...

(which of course won't happen)

EDIT: Wait... Didn't Danica run Daytona as part of her limited Cup schedule last year? I'm sure she did?? Don't forget Nascar and the media pumped the Gen 6 cars PLUS had to have some curiosity created with the wreck/injuries/national news from the Nationwide race on Saturday. I don't see how a bump in this year's ratings could be attributed to Princess Sparkle Pony if she was there last year already.

EDIT #2: Although I'd be curious to hear whether the Go Daddy $$$ are anywhere near the same for Andretti without her. He may miss the $$$$. Then again, without her they won the championship too...

Larson in an Indycar would be beyond cool, but he's already gone to the dark side because...Well, you know why. AFIK, AGR are getting the same cash from Go Daddy. Considering that King James doesn't have boobs, there's not that much drop off in moving the meter since she's gone.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetimeís worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

IMS hires consulting firm and this is what they said:

AP Exclusive: Family told to keep IndyCar, IMS
The Boston Consulting Group offered a wide array of suggestions on how to better position the troubled open-wheel series and historic speedway in a 115-page report, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
By JENNA FRYER (AP Auto Racing Writer) | The Associated Press – 15 hours ago

The Hulman-George family should retain ownership of the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, according to a report from a consulting group it hired to evaluate business operations, including running the Indianapolis 500.

The Boston Consulting Group offered a wide array of suggestions on how to better position the troubled open-wheel series and historic speedway in a 115-page report, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Among the ideas: a 15-race IndyCar schedule in major American cities held over 19 weeks; a three-race playoff with a season finale on the road course at Indy; a new marketing strategy promoting IndyCar's ''daredevil drivers''; using just one U.S. television partner instead of both ABC/ESPN and NBC Sports Network; overhauling the ticket pricing at IMS in tiers that would raise the cost of the most expensive Indy 500 ticket from $150 to $200 and lower almost every ticket for the Brickyard 400 and Red Bull Grand Prix.

Hulman & Co. is under no obligation to follow the suggestions, but Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles said in a statement late Friday night the company is taking the report under advisement.

''The work BCG has done provides conversation points around several important areas of our business as we shape our thinking about the future, but our strategy has not yet been finalized,'' Miles said in his statement.

''As part of finalizing our strategy, we will be sharing information with our stakeholders and listening to their feedback and ideas before we come to any final conclusions. We are in the early stages of this process and will be communicating to our stakeholders and fans as we define our strategy for the future.''

Miles also indicated in his statement that the version of the report the AP reviewed was one of many documents that was continuously updated during a lengthy process.

''BCG has produced many documents, including an early version of a document that is the subject of several news reports today, that include suggested elements for the plan,'' Miles said.

''BCG examined many important questions throughout this process, including how to define our overall brand, how our motorsports properties can attract more fans, how we can make our races more appealing to television viewers and live audiences, and how we can help our teams, partners and other stakeholders be more financially successful because of our relationship.''

The consulting firm was hired at the end of last season, which many considered to be one of the best in terms of on-track competition. But boardroom politics and IndyCar's history of dysfunction overshadowed the racing and American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay's championship.

Randy Bernard was ousted as CEO in late October in what many fans viewed as a coup by power-hungry team owners and IndyCar founder Tony George, who made a late season play to buy back the open-wheel series.

Since then, Miles, who most recently led Indianapolis' successful Super Bowl effort, has been brought in as CEO of Hulman & Co. and is charged with hiring Bernard's replacement. Jeff Belskus, the former CEO, is filling in for Bernard in the interim.

With the March 24 season opener approaching and the series still lacking stability, auto racing observers were awaiting the report. However, it offered no quick fixes.

BCG said IndyCar was ''the best pure racing motorsports league in the U.S. ... but the series suffers from lack of awareness.''

Part of its problem is that a significant amount of the 14 million fans who watch the Indianapolis 500 don't watch another race during the season.

Focus groups suggested that marketing strategies should be geared to ''positioning IndyCar as having the most skilled, daredevil drivers and not theatrical off-track personalities.''

They indicated they valued fast cars over science and engineering; winning over points challenges; suspense through lead changes over entertainment through crashes; and the diversity of track types rather than ovals.

''Focus on excitement of real racing; daredevil drivers defined by winning, racing at thrilling speeds,'' the report said, as a way to distinguish IndyCar from NASCAR's ''amusing entertainment: off-track drama and partying.''

The report also suggested:

- IndyCar should split the schedule into two seasons - a 15-race U.S. calendar from April to August and an international series during the offseason. The championship would be decided during the U.S. season, and the hypothetical schedule proposed by BCG included seven cities not currently visited by IndyCar. It opened at Houston, then Phoenix, the Indy 500, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Pocono, Toronto, Seattle, Sonoma and Fontana. The ''playoffs'' portion included Texas, Long Beach and the Indy road course. BCG argued for a playoff because ''the current IndyCar schedule lacks consequence and the television ratings are at the lowest at the end of the season because the series does not have a mechanism to create suspense.''

- One television partner, preferably ABC/ESPN, or placing as many races as possible on ABC. The report also suggested the NBC Sports Network may be in violation of its contract with IndyCar if it promotes any other motorsports series more than IndyCar. NBCSN will broadcast Formula One this year, but the promotional clause in the contract pertains only to the cable channel and not network television. The report said NBCSN has indicated it would ''release the series from the deal'' because the rights fees increase from $5.5 million this year to $10 million in 2018 when the contract expires. But NBCSN has indicated it's happy with the IndyCar deal and wasn't interested in ending the relationship early.

- IndyCar should reduce the Leaders' Circle subsidy payments to teams and redirect the funds into a weekly purse based on performance. Under the current model, the league is giving teams a $1.1 million subsidy and race winners are earning just $35,000 per victory. BCG offered several different models, including one that shifted half of Leader's Circle money into prize money and upped the race winner payout to a minimum $240,000 per victory.

- Using Indianapolis Motor Speedway more. BCG Found that of the 132 days the track was used in 2012, only 21 were considered major revenue-generating events. By using the speedway for an IndyCar race on the road course, BCG found IMS had the potential to generate a $4.3 million profit.

- Resetting ticket price tiers: BCG found that IMS didn't really differentiate between high-end and low-end ticket pricing. The report targets Indy 500 ticketing, suggesting penthouse and deck tickets should be raised from $150 to $200, paddock seats from $90 to $150. Other seats should drop anywhere from $5-$20 and sometimes more.

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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Some of it I like, some of it i don't. Hopefully, it will pull them into the 21st century and make them think.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetimeís worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Not sure whether everyone has picked up on this yet.... SPEED TV is soon to be 'no more'. Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain opened the season as only a 1/2 hour show (and apparently no Wind Tunnel extra following in the net either) and it will cease Aug 1.

I'm assuming SPEED will become on the new Fox Sports Natl channel?

In any case, another example of a channel designed to appeal to a select, niche audience, purchased by a larger entity.... and then down the road finally trashing the whole niche idea in the name of diversifying and trying to collect more viewers. Which misses the whole point of having a niche channel and collecting a certain demographic to sell to sponsors in the first place.

I realize SPEED morphed into the NASCAR channel (or awfully close to that) but I'm going to miss it and particularly Wind Tunnel. Although the 1/2 hour WT is not really enough to cover the racing of the week indepth and present much in the way of guests and interviews anyway. Just enough to scratch the surface.

Nuntius was right. I was wrong. Frank Vogel has retained his job.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Welp... Indycar opened its season in Florida yesterday.
Congrats to Hinch on the win. It might not be his only one this season. Especially if Ganassi doesn't get some things sorted out. You could partially blame Honda but there were faster Hondas than the Ganassi's. Franchitti (stupidly) pushed it and ended up in the wall for it. Dixon drove a nice race all things considered.

Speaking of nice race... Way to go Simona! It's a shame she couldn't have kept that podium spot but that was a nice drive she had going.

Back to team Andretti... Marco played his hand nicely. Makes you wonder if he can roll this into a season long thing?

Will Power just has bad luck. He's cursed.

Helio had a nice race and he and Power both showed that Penske racing will be a contender again. The 'Dinger' will likely be a nice addition to the team in the coming weeks.

Leigh Diffey was a fine addition to the booth. I wasn't sure how I'd like him in place of Jenkins but in fact, viewing things without any bias, he probably did a better job than Jenkins in some ways. Not sure about the Townsend/Jan swap from pits to booth. I didn't really see the point in it really. It was kind of one of those areas where nothing was broken so why were they fixing it? It's still not broken... both did fine in their swapped roles IMHO...

How does NBC Sports manage to do such a better job with Indycar racing broadcasts versus ESPN/ABC? I don't think "money" is the answer. It's just a better thought out production with a better team behind the mics (and probably better people calling the shots). I doubt ESPN/ABC is getting by too much on the cheap versus they just aren't getting the same bang for their buck. I could be wrong....

Sato and Foyt will be an interesting pairing to watch this season. If Honda gets their act together, could they win this season? AJ is getting up there. It would be nice to see him and the #14 in the winner's circle one more time.

I still miss seeing new and different cars on grid...

Nuntius was right. I was wrong. Frank Vogel has retained his job.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Since I don't get Versus, I didn't get to watch it live. From what I read, a very good race. I believe Simona was out of tires. She's the real deal people.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetimeís worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Since I don't get Versus, I didn't get to watch it live. From what I read, a very good race. I believe Simona was out of tires. She's the real deal people.

I thought NBC Sports was pretty much universally available on cable and satellite and in the basic packages now? Of course if you're OTA then you're outta luck.

FYI for any Directv subscribers:
For Directv subscribers when Versus became NBC Sports they also moved from the 600's in channel number down to the 200's with the ESPN's, NFL Network, NBATV, area of the 'dial'.

Nuntius was right. I was wrong. Frank Vogel has retained his job.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Not on our hillbilly Dish Network. We had to go to the 200 package just to get FSM and FSI broadcasts. God only knows what you'd have to do to get NBCSN

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetimeís worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

FYI for any Directv subscribers:
For Directv subscribers when Versus became NBC Sports they also moved from the 600's in channel number down to the 200's with the ESPN's, NFL Network, NBATV, area of the 'dial'.

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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Q: Did you read Roger Penske's interview in Car and Driver? He stated NASCAR was a more open series and more of an engineering challenge than IndyCar. He said IndyCar is basically a spec series. At least the racing is good but it would be nice if his comments weren't true.

Bill G, St Pete

RM: Itís hard to imagine but itís true Ė NASCAR is more technical and open than IndyCar, which is a very limited spec series at the moment. Mark Miles professes he wants to return innovation to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so weíll see if that can happen in the next few years. The Catch 22, of course, is that spec cars are boring but the competition is fierce.

I clipped this from the latest Speedtv.com Robin Miller Q/A. I've been thinking about this subject for a while and I'd have to say if people were looking for 'fierce competition' and 'good racing' then the Indy 500 would've never gotten off the ground. I think people like the spectacle of different machines, different personalities driving them, an underdog who has a chance, the chess match of race and pit strategy when the cars are all not the same, and the off chance a great finish could develop at the end.

Indycar IMHO is so worried about keeping costs down while at the same time 'creating' close racing that they are sucking money out of the sport due to declining interest in their cost cutting maneuvers.

Nuntius was right. I was wrong. Frank Vogel has retained his job.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

As I watched the opening lap(s) of yesterday's Indycar race I had a couple of random thoughts. Indycar really needs to reduce the number of yellow flag laps. I realize the flag ended up being extended due to Hinch's car having a problem just before green but I'm not sure why the field wasn't already back to green before that anyway. I understand when there's an accident and potential injuries the first priority is getting the driver out of the car safely so the yellow flag laps there should be whatever they need to be... What I don't understand is a glorified debris yellow taking long at all. Yesterday's wreck had everyone rolling away so there was some debris to be cleaned and that was it. I don't think Indycar should concern themselves with what a yellow means to pitstops and the like (IOW don't keep the track yellow because some teams opted to pit to give them time to finish and catch back up with the field).

Now maybe yesterday's yellow just seemed longer than necessary due to the length of the track and then Hinch's problem....

Which brings me to part 2... It's funny it seemed like Indycar took a while to get the track ready for racing again after that early contact but then gave no break to Hinch at all as far as towing him back to the pits so he could fix his car... and actually DID hurry the track back to green instead that time.

Then there was 80+ laps of green flag racing rendering the above observation moot this time anyway.

Nice weekend for RHR.

Looked like a good crowd too.

Nice run for Dixon although I'm sure he'd rather just finish 1st. But in the long run that 2nd will be nice towards any hopes of a championship. Kimball had a nice run... And Franchitti again starts the season in the hole.

---
Looks like AJA is going to run Long Beach for Penske now too (and maybe Detroit after the 500).

Briscoe will be coming back to Ganassi for Indy.

Nuntius was right. I was wrong. Frank Vogel has retained his job.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

The reason is...Carbon Fiber shards. Little splinters like razor blades or needles all over the place. But, I agree, it takes too damn long to clean up. They usually take the opportunity to sweep up marbles too. I don't think they should maintain yellows because the leaders are in the pits. Screw em. I don't like red flags for refueling while we're at it. If you didn't put enough fuel in it, tough ****.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetimeís worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

The Following User Says Thank You to Mackey_Rose For This Useful Post:

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

It is indeed. It's like a huge park. Literally. Immaculate lawns and viewing area. First rate facility and infrastructure but the track is built for motorcycles and it shows.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetimeís worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

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Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

Agreed. Even the best street circuits seem contrived somehow. Must be all those barricades.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetimeís worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

I should add this...

I'm much more of a fan of roadcourses than street courses...

Except for that Mickey Mouse roadcourse at IMS
I still wish they'd bulldoze that thing and plant grass on it before someone actually decides to go thru with a Sept Indycar race on it. Just forever remove that temptation to the point it isn't even an option any longer.

Nuntius was right. I was wrong. Frank Vogel has retained his job.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

I should add this...
Except for that Mickey Mouse roadcourse at IMS
I still wish they'd bulldoze that thing and plant grass on it before someone actually decides to go thru with a Sept Indycar race on it. Just forever remove that temptation to the point it isn't even an option any longer.

I like ovals.

I disagree on the Indy road course. It's there. They should use it. Is the argument that it would take away from the spectacle that is the 500? Because I really, really don't think it would.

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

I disagree on the Indy road course. It's there. They should use it. Is the argument that it would take away from the spectacle that is the 500? Because I really, really don't think it would.

The argument is, among other things, that it would diminish the Indy 500. Personally, I'd do away with BY400 and anything using the roadcourse now and just run the Indy 500 but that is not going to happen (as long as those things can generate a profit for the facility).

But I can't imagine the rc is generating much of any profit now personally. More importantly, it's a very uninteresting roadcourse. It's about as close as you're going to come to a street course and it actually be considered a roadcourse. It's 'thing' is that it utilizes the the historic IMS track as part of its design. But then the Indy 500 actually utilizes the entire track for the 500 so why should a corner, short-shoot, and straightaway be anything special for Indycar? As a track on its own there are no elevation changes to make it interesting and more visually appealing. And nothing about it that is really very good at all. That section near the museum is particularly Mickey Mouse.

IF Indycar was just cleaning up at every track they went to AND Indy was sold out a year ahead of time then MAYBE running that rc could at least be arguable as something to consider. It could be said Indy is too strong to hurt it, Indycars so popular people would be begging for another venue, and IMS able to milk that cow one more time per season. I'd still disagree but at least there wouldn't be any short term damage from doing it. I think there would always be long term damage though and it would quickly become apparent. Do it now (with the current state of Indycar), and aside from MAYBE a quick honeymoon period the bloom would leave the rose quickly and then cast a pall over Indycar in general and the Indy 500 as well.

IMS is a huge place. Aluminum breeds aluminum. Even if you could get 100,000 there for the race (which I doubt in the first place and certainly not in any sustained form considering the state of Indycar right now) it's still going to to lack the buzz of the 500. Many of the people coming will be expecting that Indy 500 vibe and will quickly lose interest without it with no wall to wall people and a lackluster on track product (and lacking the behind the scenes soap opera of innovation and new this or that). Others will wonder what the big deal is if they sample this race and decide Indy is overrated and declare they see no reason to ever attend a 500 since the Indy Grand Prix was so listful. So that will quickly filter out as word of mouth. And in general all that empty aluminum will send a bad signal about Indycar in general. Even if it's actually a 'good', profit generating crowd. It won't look 'good' to anyone scanning the seating.

And it's hard to imagine that RC generating much in the way of exciting racing or being visually appealing on television.

I say the odds are so high that I am right that bulldozing it before someone decides it would be an easy way to add an extra race to the IZOD calendar, let alone actually starts thinking it could be a money maker for IMS and worth a try, would be the way to go. Just remove the temptation and restore some parking in the infield.

I could be wrong.... but I'm not...

Nuntius was right. I was wrong. Frank Vogel has retained his job.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

As just an "average" racing fan, but one that has watched both forms since I was young, I find the lack of diversity in the equipment to be kind of boring. Like some of you, I remember when the variety of cars in the field was almost as exciting as the personalities. Is this really the same open-wheeled series that had guys showing up with turbines in their cars and all other kinds of genuine innovations. In the end though, I think the lack of speed is the biggest downer. I know it is because of safety, but man speed is so much fun.

Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

First rate facility and infrastructure but the track is built for motorcycles and it shows.

For a track made for motorcycles, the DW12 gives an great race on it IMO (especially compared to the old chassis). About the only track that it couldn't give us at least a decent show is Belle Isle (so we get to have a doubleheader this year!)

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